The Ghostly Dragon Cave was a very unique place.
It was originally formed from the body of an elite of the Sea Race. At that time, he had already cultivated to the peak of what was possible, genuinely highest of the highest degree, with a combat strength of twenty Stars of Shattering Void Tier—an absolute that others could only give up all hope of ever achieving, for even the Immortals that descended to the Lower Realm could do nothing much against him back then.
Although this elite had died, the power of regulation that he had established remained uncorroded in this place throughout the ages, keeping watch over this Ghostly Dragon Cave. It could be said that as long as one's strength was not as strong as this elite from ages ago, then one had to abide by the rules here.
Shattering Void Tier elites could not enter; any that dared to would be slain!
Yet though Shattering Void Tier cultivators could not enter, it did not mean that one could not draw on a Shattering Void Tier cultivator's combat strength—any decree or forbidden Tool could still be used, but ultimately this type of combat strength would not last long.
Ling Han held Helian Xun Xue's hand on one side, and on the other he tugged Hu Niu along. Flop, the three of them then jumped into the center of the whirlpool. An unstoppable force pulled them underwater towards the bottom.
Just when they were spiraled into a state of obscurity, all of a sudden, they resurfaced in a blood river.
"Wa!" The people who had entered ahead earlier were all vomiting wildly by the riverbank. However, it was apparent that the numbers had greatly reduced as the number of people present was far less than one-tenth of the original total. It seemed that though there was only one entrance, everyone must have been split into batches and sent to different places.
"Quick, let's leave!" Ling Han's expression changed instantly, and he grabbed the two females while leaping up into the air. However, he then gave a mild exclamation of surprise as it struck him that he actually could not fly in this place. Hence, he then dropped from midair once again.
He exhaled a breath, leveraging on this force, then propelled himself more than thirty meters horizontally and landed on the riverbank.
Helian Xun Xue was also wearing an unsightly expression. She was feeling dizzy from the spin just now, and only wanted to throw up. Hu Niu, on the contrary, appeared as if nothing had happened, and instead was clapping her hands and shouting in excitement, "Let's do it again!"
Ling Han looked down at his own clothes—there were traces of corrosive reaction which was caused by the corrosive river water. Although the corrosion rate was very slow, it was extremely persistent, and even if he circulated the Indestructible Heaven Scroll, it could only hamper the speed of corrosion, and would not be able to resolve it.
In other words, if he were to soak in the river for too long, even he would also be turned into melted liquid.
What was this!
Ling Han gazed into the distance. The length of this river was unknown, but the river water was blood-red and gave off a faint metallic smell.
"Could it be that this is the blood of the alternative dragon?" Helian Xun Xue spoke out after gradually catching her breath as she, too, looked upon this river.
There was the emergence of a True Dragon in this realm before, but absolutely not of one that cultivated to the state of True Dragon in this place. This little realm did not have the environment for one possessing the bloodline of the Dragon Clan to complete the final leap, and at most could only achieve the level of alternative dragon.
As such, if this really was an alternative dragon's blood, its value would be indescribable, precious beyond mere words.
Ling Han shook his head. "Even if it was an alternative dragon's blood, it has already been contaminated, filled with corrosive energy, and as time passes, I reckon even the Level Ten Precious Metal would be eroded away!"
Other Shattering Void Tier possibly could not, but this alternative dragon had already achieved the combat strength of twenty Stars of Shattering Void Tier; it certainly must have also cultivated the power of regulation, and with the refining of power of regulation, was there anything in this realm that could not be refined?
… Unless it was something not of this realm.
"This place is really bleak and desolate." Ling Han looked at the surroundings on both his right and left—there was only an extremely narrow space. Apart from the blood river that lay in the middle and was gushing with what looked to be blood-like water, both sides of the riverbank were merely around three hundred meters in width; after that, there was nothing else, looking as if a fault had appeared in the world.
Since this place was formed from an elite's body, naturally one should not have high hopes for it to be like the real world.
"Which way should we go?" Helian Xun Xue asked.
"The source," Ling Han answered after pondering.
They were just about to set out when they caught sight of a blade's light flashing past—a person suddenly charged towards them. The Sword Qi that surged forth was filled with a decidedly dense chill that rushed towards them.
"Ling Han, I am going to kill you!"
Ling Han took a glance, then very casually stretched out his hand, and using two fingers in an effortless motion, he held the opponent's long sword immobilized between his fingers as he responded indifferently, "So it seems that Princess Cai has quite the temper. It's best not to have such a hot temper as you'll get old easily."
The person who wielded the sword was precisely Xianyu Cai. She tried hard to retrieve her sword, yet discovered to her astonishment that the sword had seemingly grown roots in Ling Han's hand and would not budge no matter how hard she pulled. She was dumbstruck—what kind of a monster was this human? This sword was a Level Eight Spirit Tool; furthermore, it was of an extremely fine quality, enough to display the combat strength of the peak of the Deity Transformation Tier, but in Ling Han's hand, it was powerless like an infant.
Naturally, she had heard of the fight between Ling Han and Xianyu Ziyuan, but she had always thought it to be something of an exaggeration, and surmised that it must have been the strength of the formation entirely. But now that she have had the chance to clash with Ling Han, she was suddenly made aware that he was indeed incomparably powerful.
Ling Han gave a slight push with his hand, causing Xianyu Cai to abruptly stagger as she fell back. After that, he also released his fingers' hold on her sword, and remarked, "For the sake of the Xianyu royal clan, I shall not retaliate this time, but if you persist in not knowing what's good for you, I will let you know what fear is!"
It was not that he was afraid of the Xianyu royal clan, but rather that the clan was a faction that he could still attempt to gather to his and Helian's side. He did not want the amicable ties between the two clans to be disrupted because of a haughty little princess like Xianyu Cai.
"Heng, heng, Dragon meat is Niu's favorite!" Hu Niu said threateningly from the side.
There were unshed tears in Xianyu Cai's eyes—this human was too abominable. The elders of her clan had wanted to force her to marry him, and this human actually refused. Now, he was treating her so fiercely, making her feel incredibly aggrieved.
What did she do wrong? She was the biggest victim!
"Let's go!" Ling Han did not bother with Xianyu Cai. Although they were all randomly spread out after entering, the three great clans already accounted for ninety-nine percent of the people here; naturally, there was no lack of people from the Xianyu royal clan, and as such there was no need for him to take care of this delicate little princess.
They had but taken a few steps when they noticed that Xianyu Cai actually also followed them.
Ling Han halted his steps and asked, "Why are you following us?"
"Who said I am following you?" Xianyu Cai countered with her head held high. "Can't I take this path as well?"
"Sure, please!" Ling Han made a move to give way.
Xianyu Cai was secretly irked and she walked past Ling Han in big strides, seeming to have some kind of grudge against the earth as she stomped the ground with vehemence, making thumping sounds.
They waited after she had walked a good distance ahead. Only then did the three of them start out once again.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk, that was a great beauty. Why did you not accept her?" Helian Xun Xue said in a sour tone dripping with envy.
Ling Han laughed heartily as he said, "Are you jealous?"
"In your dreams!" Helian Xun Xue, of course, denied adamantly.
"Niu is jealous!" Hu Niu, not knowing how to hide her feelings, briskly pounced onto Ling Han, dangling with her arms around his neck as she declared, "Ling Han is Niu's, no one can snatch him!"
Helian Xun Xue found it laughable. Hu Niu appeared to be only five to six years old, yet clearly gave the impression of wanting to dominate Ling Han exclusively. Such a small little girl, how could she have got such a notion?
"This place is the first floor of the so-called Blood Dragon Cave? Wasn't it said that there are various kinds of Spirit Herbs here? Why is it that I don't see anything?" Ling Han peered around. The surroundings here were too simple—one could easily see everything at a glance, whether there were any Spirit Herbs or not.
"You think the Spirit Herbs are like vegetables that you'll find growing all over the place?" Helian Xun Xue rolled her eyes at him.
Ling Han nodded his head and questioned, "Aren't they?"
Recalling the Spirit Herbs that grew in abundance everywhere in the Black Tower that Ling Han possessed, Helian Xun Xue was abruptly rendered speechless.